Analysts Set Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) PT at $85.67

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-four analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and twenty-eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $85.67.

Several equities analysts recently commented on SQ shares. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Block in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Block from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Benchmark increased their target price on shares of Block from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total value of $42,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,790,374.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 2,581 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total value of $165,958.30. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 201,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,972,782.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total transaction of $42,375.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at $5,790,374.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 363,801 shares of company stock worth $27,284,175 in the last ninety days. 10.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Block by 843.2% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 349 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Block in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Vima LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Price Performance

Shares of SQ opened at $74.48 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 428.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 2.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $77.39 and a 200 day moving average of $67.26. Block has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Block had a net margin of 0.04% and a return on equity of 0.63%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Block will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Block Company Profile

Square, Inc provides payment and point-of-sale solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's commerce ecosystem includes point-of-sale software and hardware that enables sellers to turn mobile and computing devices into payment and point-of-sale solutions. It offers hardware products, including Magstripe reader, which enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Contactless and chip reader that accepts EMV® chip cards and Near Field Communication payments; Chip card reader, which accepts EMV® chip cards and enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Square Stand, which enables an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or full point of sale solution; and Square Register that combines its hardware, point-of-sale software, and payments technology, as well as managed payments solutions.